Ever since the government declared Jakarta’s global social distancing policy, things got quite difficult for me personally to function as an “old normal” society. Other than the fact that my moving space is limited, my food options are also limited. The first month after the policy was announced was the hardest. I experienced so many food cravings, yet I could do nothing about it because most of the restaurants were closed and I was lacking the courage to go out and get food just for the sake of it. Thank God there’s this thing called Instagram.
From Instagram, I learned that a lot of my friends whom I follow are starting a small business where they sell homemade food. The options are quite limitless and they range from sweet to savory, light to heavy, budget-friendly to fancy-prized, and delicious to epic. One of them being pudding. Now, you may wonder, “What’s so special about puddings? I mean, everybody can make one, right?”. Well, if you can make a pudding with the texture combo of a Panna Cotta, a Mousse, and a Jelly, then you have the right to wonder. If not, I suggest you to open your Instagram and go straight to Kyu.rio’s page.
Kyu.rio Milky Pudding! Yep, that’s the name of what my junior high school buddy has to offer. You can already tell by the name itself that Ibeth here sells a variety of milk pudding. I remember specifically that Ibeth had only one flavor on sale during her earlier time doing her business, which was the Original Vanilla Pudding with Brown Sugar Sauce. That was a month ago. From there, her business rapidly climbs the ladder of success to the point where she gains more demand from her customers. One time, on one of her pre-order listing, all of the puddings were sold out in just a count of minute I couldn’t get my hands on at least one cup. 15 minutes, if I’m not mistaken, for half a hundred cups of pudding. How amazing is that? Now, specifically today, she is currently throwing her seventh pre-order on Kyu.rio’s Instagram Page, serving a total of four flavors, including this particular new flavor that she has been working on; the Matcha flavor. Talk about glow up!
The business rooted from a particular time when Ibeth had a craving for Gyu-Kaku’s milk pudding. Being stuck at home and having Gyu-Kaku closing its’ doors on everybody’s faces calls for desperate measure. Ibeth started to browse for recipes to make the fancy dessert itself and, after a few attempts, she succeeded. Yet, the perfectionist in her longed to improve both taste and quality of her pudding. So, she strived and managed to reach her goal with flying colors. Her family and friends loved her creation and the nudge from her boyfriend to turn this craving into a business found its’ way into Ibeth herself. Then, the rest is history.
After a failed attempt of ordering, I finally got my hands on Ibeth’s Kyu.rio Milky Pudding on her previous pre-order listing. At that time, there were still only three flavors available to be ordered. I took my chances and got myself, at least, one of each. They were the Original, the Spiked Rum, and the Earl Grey. Each pudding was served in a cup and it came with a tiny bag of sauce. Being the extra food blogger that I am, I tried to move the pudding onto a plate so that I could make a footage of me pouring the sauce on top of the jiggly pudding, yet my attempt was to no avail as the pudding immediately tore with just a light touch. Yes, I am not exaggerating. The pudding was THAT delicate I had to succumb and eat it straight from the cup. Boo, no fun.
The first pudding that I tried was the Earl Grey flavored, in which the silky pudding was infused with strong, yet dainty, earl grey tea and served with a spoonful of thick vanilla sauce. I took the liberty to try the pudding without the sauce beforehand and, boy, did that mouthful tasted like a subtle blast of tea. As an avid tea drinker, I know what earl grey tea tastes like, and this pudding tasted like one. As I mentioned before, the earl grey tea was strong, you definitely won’t miss it, yet it was not dominating the whole flavor; I could still taste the subtly sweet milk pudding. The vanilla sauce, on the one hand, was not overpoweringly sweet as well, and it played its’ role as the cherry on top perfectly. I really love the flavor combo of milk, earl grey, and vanilla that this pudding had. I don’t think I’ve had anything like this before in my life. No joke. After I was finished with the Earl Grey, I moved on to my second pudding, the Original. Yes, I ate two servings in under 10 minutes. What of it?
The Original is my favorite among the two so far because it had a very simple concept, which is vanilla flavored pudding with brown sugar sauce, yet it tasted so so deliciously rich. And by rich, I mean Queen Elizabeth of the Royal Family rich. Mind boggling isn’t it? How can something that looks mediocre be having a flavor that sparks joy by the time it reaches your tastebuds? I don’t have the answer myself. Maybe you should ask Ibeth about it. She’s the mastermind behind all of this delicious dessert.
Last, but not least, was the Spiked Rum! It shared the same concept with the Original, yet it had a little bit of rum in it to spice things up. Now, I’m not a fan of rum (I only fancy beer and Tequila) and I could definitely distinguish the rum in this pudding, yet it didn’t taste as dreadful as I thought it would be. The flavor combination between vanilla and rum work just fine, and the brown sugar sauce elevates the whole flavor of the pudding, making it more delicious and enjoyable for me to dig in. I do recommend you not to take my words for the Spiked Rum, as I’m not a fan of rum, so I don’t think I’m judging the flavor of the pudding objectively. But, it was delicious to say the least.
It gives me a lot of joy whenever I’m eating something that my friends made. Either it be a pudding, or a doughnut, my friends are gifted with the ability to reach my heart in the quickest way possible. As for Ibeth and her Kyu.rio Milky Pudding, I bet that she has reached and won a lot of hearts with her delicious homemade pudding. I'll bet higher if you're up against me because here's a little secret that I know *whispers* her pudding tastes better than Gyu-Kaku's.
